Political commentary from the LA Times

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says 'birthers' are 'leading our country down a path of destruction'

April 26, 2011 | 11:32
am

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, no stranger to controversy, is saying that the "birther" discussion has become a "huge distraction."

While talking with CNN's John King on Monday, the governor said that she believes President Obama was indeed born in Hawaii in 1961, as his certificate of live birth states, and that after two years the debate has no more merit.

"It's just something I believe is leading our country down a path of destruction and it just is not serving any good purpose," Brewer said, obviously ignoring the fact that all of the birther talk has helped billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump take an early lead in the polls.

Some may say that Brewer, a Republican, is out of step with her constituents. Last week a CBS News/New York Times poll discovered that 45% of Republicans don't believe that Obama was born in the U.S. But Brewer says it's time to focus on something else.

"I think we really just need to move on," Brewer suggested. "Everybody's had two years to prove, if they wanted to, that he was not born in Hawaii. They haven't come up with any of that kind of proof."

Brewer recently vetoed Arizona House Bill 2177, also known as the Birther Bill, which would have put the responsibility on the political parties to prove that their candidates were American citizens and born in the United States. The bill would have allowed the Arizona secretary of state to judge the qualifications of the candidates when they file to run for office, something Brewer, a former secretary of state, felt uncomfortable with.

"I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions," Brewer said in mid-April upon vetoing the bill.

"In addition, I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on Earth to submit their 'early baptismal circumcision certificates' among other records to the Arizona secretary of state," she said. "This is a bridge too far."